Marjorie Clayman’s Writing Portfolio
Professional writing profile of Marjorie Clayman
Elaine Spitz wanted me to talk about some of my most favorite songs. Now unlike that Gini person, Elaine did not restrict me to a certain number.
So…don’t say I didn’t warn ya 🙂 I’m gonna do this stream of consciousness though, because otherwise it would get out of control. This list is by no means comprehensive!
As a 30-something in the US, I find myself and my generation in a bit of a strange conundrum. For the first time perhaps ever, our generation is facing a reality where we might be worse off than our parents. This fact is mentioned to us all the time. It’s on the news. It’s in the reports the Department of Labor sends out. It’s in economic and healthcare forecasts. It seems to be everywhere.
How did we get here? How is it that we ended up on this path? There are a lot of answers to that question, but the ones you tend to hear the most about are the Baby Boomer generation growing older, our college loans growing bigger, childcare and healthcare costs skyrocketing, and the economy declining.
It is with these thoughts in my mind that I begin to approach Ann Odle’s topic, which is caring for and relating to aging parents.
So Gini Dietrich asked me what my ten most favorite books are. It seems like a super easy question, but that Gini, she has the devil on her shoulder. As it turns out, narrowing down all of my favorite books down to a list of 10 is pretty well nigh impossible.
Since I have a bit of the devil on my shoulder too, I found some super secrete loopholes that will allow me to answer this question successfully and frankly. So here we go.
The lovely Nicole Fende asked me to write about how to find and leverage the mavens in the online world. If you’ve been reading blogs for awhile, whether here or elsewhere, you know that conversations about the “mavens,” “a-listers,” “superstars,” whatever you want to call them, often get heated.
After reading all of these posts, all of the comments they get…after writing some of my own posts and reading those comments, I’ve come to the conclusion that what is most important in the online world is working on becoming a maven yourself, however you define that term.
Understand that I am well aware of how omnipresent people with a huge number of followers and subscribers are in this world. I know that it seems impossible to get traction when there are people who have hundreds of thousands of people retweeting their every word. But as I spend more time in the world of Social Media, I’m beginning to see that that whole facet of this world isn’t what matters. The number of followers doesn’t matter. The number of subscribers doesn’t matter. Even the number of comments you get doesn’t matter. They’re nice benchmarks, but there’s a lot more to strive for. And that objective – that point where you will feel successful – that is what really matters.
Bill Dorman asked me to write a post about “the new real.” With so much interaction happening online, it seems sometimes like the word “real” is shifting in meaning. Is this the new way we relate to people? Is this the new “real” us?
I’ve been thinking about this question for a long time, but I’ve had a few experiences along the way, happily enough, that have brought me to the answer I’m going to share with you here. That answer is that Social Media is as real as you want it to be. The people you are engaging with are as real as you want them to be.
This post idea came from Christina Pappas. A lot of people are looking for jobs right now, and it seems like the online world can be a great help in that quest. But how exactly can Social Media evolve into a job-hunting tool? Here are some ideas I’ve seen.
1. Make sure your photo is updated and that it looks the way you would want to look in a job interview (that means a picture of your baby may not be the best choice)
2. Load up your resume into LinkedIn.
3. Use keywords carefully, because people *do* search on LinkedIn. If you want to be found for copywriting, make sure copywriting is one of the words you use in your profile
4. Join groups on LinkedIn tied to your profession of choice
5. Scan the Questions section, especially in your areas of expertise. Start answering questions as often as possible – this not only shows how much you know but it can also reveal a great deal about how you interact with others
6. Keep an eye on companies you’d like to work for. LinkedIn is a good place to see new job openings
7. Network with people who can help you get your foot in the door. Don’t be a jerk about it, but search them out.
8. Do NOT import your Twitter feed into LinkedIn. That’s one of the best ways to lose your entire network.
9. Make recommendations for people you have worked with. There is a general understanding that when it comes to recommendations, it’s polite to return the favor (but only if you truly worked with that person in some way).
10. Don’t post frivolous updates as much as you might on Facebook. LinkedIn is a bit more “formal wear.”
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